


Nothing but Ashes in the End

by thefoxesfriend



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Death, I'm Sorry, Ouch, Sad, Short One Shot, Supernatural series ending, Tearjerker, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 20:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1912953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefoxesfriend/pseuds/thefoxesfriend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A short, super angsty tearjerker one-shot of a possible end to the Supernatural series and Team Free Will. If you want to recreate the experience I had writing it, I suggest you grab some tissues, put on the lullaby version of Carry on My Wayward Son, and be prepared to cry yourself to sleep. I apologise in advance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing but Ashes in the End

The war has been won, but Sam and Dean are dying.

They lay side by side in the grass. Mud and blood splatter their clothes in a mosaic. Dean is clawing blindly for his brother, grabbing at the wet fabric of his shirt sticking to Sam’s body from the wounds in his chest. ‘Sammy…’ his voice is so weak, but Sam’s eyelids flicker in response to the familiar sound, and his fingers twitch. Sam gathers enough stregnth to move his arm towards his brother’s warmth. They grope blindly for each other’s fabric, just like when the cage opened, and they were two lost little boys, finding purchase in each other in the dark. Dean manages to heave himself up enough to scoot closer to Sam, pressing a hand over Sam’s draining chest, before he loses strength and collapses. “Ugh…bitch.” It came out more as a breath than anything. Sam moans and tilts his heads towards Dean. “Jerk.” Sam needs to let Dean know that he’s there. His brother’s eyes have to be the last thing he sees before he falls into the abyss. By now, their arms are crossed against each other’s bodies, Dean’s hand holding Sam’s faint heartbeat, trying to concentrate on the beats and willing them to last longer than his own.

When Castiel teleports down, their still forms are spread out like a dead angel’s burnt wing marks. Cas spreads his own wings out, one shielding each Winchester brother, as ash and rain fall down from the sky around them. Heaven was crying. Cas was crying, too.

He brushes back Dean’s hair, letting his fingers trail down his cheekbones until it finds his cracked lips, where the faintest of breaths were still eeking out.

He still had some grace left, dammit.

Cas cups Dean’s face, prepared to make a final sacrifice for Dean.

“Cas…no…”

“Dean?”

Cas tries to reign in his tears. Dean’s green eyes were glassy, and Cas could feel how hard his beaten body was fighting just to hang on.

“It’s okay, Dean, I gotcha. Just rest for now.”

The light of Cas’ grace started to glow under his fingers.

“No!”

Dean turned his head to face his brother.

“Sam…save…”

Cas was crying, now. Really, properly crying. Tears soaked his face, cutting lines through the ash. His lips were bloodless and pale, and the rain had turned his dark hair black. The only colour he held was in the wet blue of his eyes.

Cas turned to where Sam lay, and looked at the familiar lines of worry smooth on his face, the relaxed curls of his fists, and the gentle way his hair fanned out against the grass and brushed sideways along his forehead.

“Dean…I’m so sorry…”

There was no stopping them now. Free flowing down his face. Scrunched up and ugly like Jimmy Novak’s when he first held his newborn baby daughter in his arms. 

“No…”

Dean moaned and tried to nudge closer to his dead brother.

“Sammy…”

And then Cas knew it was over. He couldn’t save Dean, no matter how much he wanted to, if he couldn’t save Sam.

So, Cas just bent down low and cupped Dean’s face in his hand. Dean was crying and still reaching for his brother, but Cas knew he felt some comfort in the touch from the way he leaned into it and his muscles started to relax. Cas murmured sweet nothings into Dean’s ear.

_“It’s okay, baby. Angels are watching over you…”_

Dean’s breaths were more infrequent now. Thunder crackled overhead. The sky split open in agony. Rain dripped off Cas’ wings in a wall of water, and the Winchesters stayed dry.

“It’s okay, Dean. It’s okay. Just rest.”

_There’ll be peace when you are done…_

Dean’s eyes finally started to close.

_Lay your weary head to rest…_

And then Dean Winchester breathed his last.

_Don’t you cry no more._

Cas stayed there, sobbing and clutching Dean as Heaven fell around him. There would be angels, fallen in the war, disguising themselves as innocent civilians looking for souls they could use to recharge, or for stronger vessels. But Cas would protect them. He still had some grace left…still some grace…

The words swirled in his mind like a punishment.

Cas knew what he was going to do.

“Let’s get you boys home.”

Cas crumpled to the floor when he landed in the bunker, Sam and Dean falling with him.

“Okay, now we’re safe.”

His grace gone, the three humans died together, as brothers, comrades, and friends. 


End file.
